Plants and herbivores have co-evolved in their natural habitats for about 350 million years, but since the domestication of crops, plant resistance against insects has taken a different turn.With the onset of monoculture-driven modern agriculture, selective pressure on insects to overcome resistances has dramatically increased.Therefore plant breeders have resorted to high-tech tools to continuously create new insect-resistant crops.
Efforts in the past 30 years have resulted in elucidation of mechanisms of many 1.1x1.5 effective plant defenses against insect herbivores.Here, we critically appraise these efforts and - with a focus on sap-sucking insects - discuss how these findings have contributed head total joy 2023 to herbivore-resistant crops.Moreover, in this review we try to assess where future challenges and opportunities lay ahead.
Of particular importance will be a mandatory reduction in systemic pesticide usage and thus a greater reliance on alternative methods, such as improved plant genetics for plant resistance to insect herbivores.